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OWA Offline Mode

For organizations wishing to put greater emphasis on OWA use for their employees, network connectivity has always been a concern. “How can I read my email if the Internet is down and I only have OWA? I need Outlook for Cached Mode.” That is no longer true with Exchange Online. OWA can now be put in to Offline Mode, allowing for the Inbox, Drafts and 5 other folders to be accessible even in the event of a network outage. Offline Mode can be enabled for any user by clicking through the following setup:

1. Click Offline settings in the user settings

2. Turn on offline access and then move through the 4-step setup/verification by clicking OK

3. Step 1 is verification of that other users can see your email if they access a computer storing your offline files

4. Step 2 is information on how to handle browser requests for more storage

5. Step 3 is a “tip of the day” on how to easily access OWA in an offline state

6. Step 4 is a final confirmation

If you then go back in to your Offline settings, you’ll also find the option to dictate which 5 folders are synched alongside your Inbox and Drafts. By default, the 5 most recently used folders will be synchronized, but you have the ability to customize this view:

And that’s it! OWA could potentially replace Outlook as a full-featured tool many years ago, but now it can also withstand a network outage.